In 1990 Biggio played in 150 games, where he recorded 53 runs, 153 hits and 24 doubles.

In 1990 Biggio played in 150 games, where he recorded 53 runs, 153 hits and 24 doubles.

Photo: File Photo / Houston Chronicle

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Craig Biggio led the Majors in doubles in 1998 and 1999.

Craig Biggio led the Majors in doubles in 1998 and 1999.

Photo: Chuck Bigger / Associated Press

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Biggio was selected to his sixth and final All-Star game in 1998.

Biggio was selected to his sixth and final All-Star game in 1998.

Photo: File Photo / Houston Chronicle

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Jeff Bagwell hoists Craig Biggio as Mike Hampton joins the celebration after the Astros clinched the Central Division Championship on Sept. 25, 1997. It was the second time in Biggio's career that he led the Majors in runs scored. less

Jeff Bagwell hoists Craig Biggio as Mike Hampton joins the celebration after the Astros clinched the Central Division Championship on Sept. 25, 1997. It was the second time in Biggio's career that he led the ... more

Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle

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In 2000, Biggio and the Astros helped open what was then named Enron Field. It was later Astros Field and currently Minute Maid Park.

In 2000, Biggio and the Astros helped open what was then named Enron Field. It was later Astros Field and currently Minute Maid Park.

Photo: File Photo / Houston Chronicle

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Biggio had never gone on the disabled list in his first 13 seasons. But a collision with Preston Wilson of the Marlins cut his year short on Aug. 1, 2000 with a season-ending knee injury.

Biggio had never gone on the disabled list in his first 13 seasons. But a collision with Preston Wilson of the Marlins cut his year short on Aug. 1, 2000 with a season-ending knee injury.

Photo: Robert Mayer / AP Photo/Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel

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Biggio was no stranger to pain. In 2001 he led the MLB in being hit by pitches. He led the league in the category five times in his career.

Biggio was no stranger to pain. In 2001 he led the MLB in being hit by pitches. He led the league in the category five times in his career.

Photo: Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle

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On June 28, 2007, Craig Biggio joined the elite group of MLB players with 3,000 hits.

On June 28, 2007, Craig Biggio joined the elite group of MLB players with 3,000 hits.

From one great infielder to hopefully another, Biggio talks with shortstop prospect Carlos Correa during spring training. Biggio serves as a special assistant to general manager Jeff Luhnow.

From one great infielder to hopefully another, Biggio talks with shortstop prospect Carlos Correa during spring training. Biggio serves as a special assistant to general manager Jeff Luhnow.

Photo: Jose de Jesus Ortiz / Chronicle

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Biggio walks off the field for the final time as St. Thomas High School baseball coach after his team's 5-1 loss to St. Pius in the state semifinals.

Biggio walks off the field for the final time as St. Thomas High School baseball coach after his team's 5-1 loss to St. Pius in the state semifinals.

Photo: Cody Duty / Chronicle

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Biggio takes near miss at Hall in stride

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Craig Biggio spent weeks avoiding controversy about the 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame vote. But when he woke up Wednesday morning, Biggio was a child again: anxious, hopeful, impatient.

If 75 percent of Baseball Writers’ Association of America voters selected the former Astros great on their ballots, Biggio would become the first player in franchise history with primary ties to the organization admitted to the Hall.

When a call came through at 12:34 p.m. Wednesday — just 26 minutes before results were announced — Biggio found relief. The phone number had a New York area code. It was Cooperstown, Biggio thought. He’d made it in.

The call was only a New York radio station, wanting to ask Biggio yet another question about a highly controversial ballot dominated by former All-Stars linked to performance-enhancing drugs.

Biggio passed on the interview. Then the BBWAA passed on him.

Despite being the only player in MLB history with at least 3,000 hits, 600 doubles, 400 stolen bases and 250 homers, Biggio finished 39 votes short of success. He was the top vote-getter, earning 388 of 569 votes cast (68.2 percent) and stands a strong chance of being admitted in either 2014 or ’15. But while Biggio wasn’t mad and held a news conference Thursday only so he could answer a flurry of lingering questions in a controlled setting, he acknowledged that some voters’ bias against first-ballot electees and MLB’s unresolved steroid era could have prevented him from entering the Hall.

“I think it’s kind of unfair, but it’s the reality of the era that we played in,” Biggio said at Minute Maid Park. “Obviously, some guys are guilty, and other guys aren’t. It’s painful for the ones that weren’t. But the situation is what it is, and hopefully this thing will all pass and move on, and we’ll have something possibly good to talk about next year.”

As for voters who intentionally ignored him just because he was on the ballot for the first time?

“You get 68 percent of the vote, you’re 39 (votes) shy,” Biggio said. “Was it 39 guys that didn’t vote for guys the first time? I don’t know. We’ll see. But I’ll study a little harder and hopefully get a 75 (percent vote) next year.”

2nd basemen must wait
Biggio found optimism in his close call. He outdrew everyone from Jack Morris (67.7 percent) and former teammate Jeff Bagwell (59.6) to Barry Bonds (36.2) and Roger Clemens (37.6). In voters’ eyes, Biggio was the premier Hall-worthy candidate in the most-discussed ballot in MLB history. With comparable second basemen such as Ryne Sandberg and Roberto Alomar requiring at least two years of voting to enter the Hall, Biggio’s 68.2 percent looked better in historical perspective.

“(Wednesday) was a great day,” he said. “We didn’t get in, but we got pretty close. So we’re honored to be in the position that we’re in.”

Biggio often used “we” on Thursday when discussing himself and the Hall. He’s often said entering Cooperstown would mean much more to the Astros, the team’s fans, the city of Houston and his family than it ever could to him. After devoting 22 combined major and minor league years to the Astros and now serving as a special adviser to general manager Jeff Luhnow, Biggio still wears the star with pride.

“I don’t think ‘I’ is in my dialogue,” Biggio said. “It was always we and us and the team.”

The man who spent 2,850 games playing catcher, second base and the outfield for Houston can wait another year to enter the Hall. Biggio’s focus will turn Monday to coaching high school baseball, and his adviser’s role with the Astros will increase this season. While fans and media fire away on the Internet, debating the modern merits of the Hall, Biggio still views Cooperstown as an ideal destination.

Wait worth the reward
Hall of Fames representing pro football and basketball can’t match baseball’s promised land. No one was allowed in Wednesday. Not Bonds, not Clemens, not Biggio. To the former Astro, a 2013 “no” vote will only make his eventual admittance even sweeter.

“That’s what makes baseball pretty special, pretty unbelievable,” Biggio said. “We’re not letting six guys in every year. You’ve got a list of guys that were really qualified, and nobody was let in. It just says a lot about, if you’re able to get in there, how special that building really is.”